Industrial lens for low-light imaging

When a moth flies at night, its eyes need to capture all the light available. To do this, certain species have evolved nanoscopic structures on the surface of their eyes which allow almost no light to reflect off the surface and hence to escape. Now scientists at MicroBridge, a project at the Manufacturing Engineering Centre (MEC) at the University of Cardiff, have adopted the model to create an industrial lens for use in a low light environment. The structures on the surface of the new lens are less than 100 nanometers in height. They need to be smaller than the wavelength of light to avoid disrupting the light as it enters the lens. Fore more information, go to http://www.cf.ac.uk/news/articles/cardiff-university-engineers-give-industry-a-moths-eye-view.html.